(indieWIRE/07.31.01) -- After announcing its U.S. acquisition of "Intimacy"last month, Empire Pictures has confirmed a deal for another esteemedarthouse title, Arnaud Despleschin's "Esther Kahn." After premiering incompetition at Cannes 2000, the film made the top of indieWIRE's list ofbest films without U.S. distribution from that year.

Earlier this year, indieWIRE wrote, "Fans of Arnaud Desplechin (andmany have been cultivated since 'La Sentinelle' and 'My Sex Life...Or HowI Got Into An Argument') would likely salivate at the chance to see hislatest, 'Esther Kahn,' an English-language film starring Summer Phoenix asthe eponymous, emotionally-empty heroine who aspires to be a stage actressin late 19th century London."

Empire's Ed Arentz could not offer a release date for Desplechin's enigmaticand enthralling new work, but also indicated the company's plans to releaseBritish director Sara Sugerman's "Very Annie Mary," starring RachelGriffiths and Jonathon Pryce, by the end of this year. Empire has releasedonly two other films to date: French films "La Buche" and "Place Vendome."(indieWIRE mistakenly reported previously that "Cartoon Noir" and "Fetishes" were among Empire releases; these latter films were released by CinemaVillage Features.)

Rialto, known for the current revival of Jean-Pierre Melville's "Bob leFlambeur," have purchased two other classic Melville titles, "Le CercleRouge" and "L'Armee des Ombres," as well as one previous announced newacquisition, 2001 Berlin premiere "Murderous Maids," Jean-Pierre Denis' retelling of the story of the Papin sisters, made famous by Jean Genet's"The Maids."

Another French film heading to U.S. theaters, according to Unifrance, aFrench film advocacy organization, is Vera Belmont's 1997 film,"Marquise," starring Sophie Marceau, about a young dancer who becomesRacine's mistress, which will see a release through new distributorConstellation Communications. Also, Jacques Dorfmann's recent big budget Christophe Lambert vehicle "Druids" was acquired by Columbia -- who recently put out Mathieu Kassovitz's French actioner "Crimson Rivers" with little success.

The current annual film calendar will end up a banner year for French films,according to Unifrance, with 59 Francophonic films scheduled for release in2001 and early 2002. [Anthony Kaufman]

>> Film is Alive At Winstar Despite Corporate Parent's Bankruptcy

(indieWIRE/07.31.01) -- The recent bankruptcy of Winstar Communicationsraised questions about the fate of films being released by the Winstar TVand Video division, yet executives at the company are quick to state thatthey are still in business. And a deal is pending to put any lingering fearsand instability to rest.

Financial problems at Shooting Gallery and Offline have many in the indiecommunity feeling rather jittery and Upside Magazine's August issue callsWinstar Communications "a black hole" that has billions of dollars in debtand thousands of axed employees. So, it's no surprise that execs on the filmside would want to change set indie minds at ease.

"While our publicly traded parent company is bankrupt, we are not," WinstarFilm and Video President Al Cattabiani told Amy Taubin in a recent Village Voice article.

Winstar is not ready to announce the details of its plans just yet, but with"t's" being crossed and "i's" being dotted, news should come soon. "We areworking on a deal to spin off the film, TV and video business from theparent company and an announcement is expected shortly," Senior VP ofacquisitions and co-productions Krysanne Katsoolis told indieWIRE late lastweek, "It is business as usual here."

Earlier this year, the company's Winstar Cinema label unveiled a six-filmslate of releases. Thus far, they opened Jafar Panahi's "The Circle" inMarch, followed by Francois Ozon's "Under the Sand" this Spring and Jacques Martineau & Olivier Ducastel's "Adventures of Felix." Upcoming releases include first time French director Anne Sophie Birot's "Girls Can't Swim" and Olivier Assayas' latest "Les Destinees."

"We pay our own bills and we're in the process of arranging independentfinancing so we can be a private company," Catabiani told Taubin in theVillage Voice article. "And while no one can fully predict the future, weexpect to be freer to make adventurous aesthetic choices than when we weretied to a publicly traded company." Reached late yesterday, Cattabiani wouldnot detail a timetable for the big announcement, only to add that news isexpected, "ASAP." [Eugene Hernandez]

>> Arrow Sets "Jane" for Winter Debut

(indieWIRE/07.31.01) -- Arrow Features announced yesterday its acquisitionof the worldwide rights to Sarah Thorp's directorial debut, "See Jane Run."The movie, which stars Clea Duvall ("But I'm a Cheerleader") and Kevin Corrigan ("Slums of Beverly Hills"), first caught the attention of Arrowwhen it screened at the Slamdunk Festival in Park City back in January. Thefilm also screened at Cinequest in San Jose and Houston's Worldfest.

"Arrow has always been known as a cultivator of new American indie talent,"commented Arrow's president Dennis Friedland in a prepared statement. "Sarahfits in perfectly with other young filmmakers who got their start at Arrowand later became established Hollywood stalwarts."

Arrow is planning a January release for "Jane." Among the company's otherupcoming films are "Maelstrom" this fall, "Milk" and "Dog Run" in October, and "The Piano Player" in February of next year. [Eugene Hernandez]

(indieWIRE/07.30.01) -- Today, indieWIRE get the inside word on a newdivision at indie distributor, Lot 47. Also, the complete lineup for theIFP's upcoming No Borders project and new from the Venice Film Festival.